Prostate Cancer

While prostate cancer is the most common cancer to affect men, it is actually one of the most treatable types of the disease, particularly over the last 20 years as the world of science and medicine continues to discover various effective forms of treatment.

Prostate cancer is a cancer that afflicts only men. It develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive gland. While it can be deadly, when caught early, it is also a cancer with one of the highest survivability rates. The keys are prevention and early detection.

Age is one of the most important risk factor to consider when it comes to prostate cancer, as men in their 30s and 40s are rarely affected by the disease. In fact, it is recommended that men begin getting tested and screened for cancer of the prostate at age 50 unless there are other risk factors present, such as having a close family member who had the disease, or being African-American as for some reason, prostate cancer affects more men of this race than any other.

While precancerous cells may be present for many years, it's very rare for a man younger than the age of 50 to show any outward signs of the disease. By age 80, it is estimated that more than 50% of men in the U.S. alone will have cancerous cells within the prostate gland, and 16% of all men in American will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their life, but only 3% will die from the disease.